Spinners

Night Hunter

Torno's VF-1 includes a plain white skin so it's just a couple of decals really.

Piggyback Pair

HESA Saeqeh 'Thunderbolt' - Red Lion Fighter Regiment, Republic of Paran Air Force, 2017 Skin Credit: EricJ

Parani Fw190D-9's

Lockheed F-104A Starfighter - 302nd Fighter Squadron, Imperial Iranian Air Force, 1966

McDonnell Douglas Condor F.1 - No. 92 Squadron, RAF Germany, 1984 3D Model: Cocas Skin Credit: Nyghtflyer

Lockheed Martin A-4AR Fightinghawk - 2nd Escuadrilla, Comando de la Aviación Naval Argentina, 1999

I've been buying, reading and collecting aviation books since the mid-1970's and my favourite aviation author is Bill Gunston (RIP). I really like autobiographies by WW2 pilots like Eric Brown, Neville Duke, Roland Beamont, etc.

What an extremely brave lady she is. Russia needs more heroes like her.

Avia S-92 'Turbina' - Escuadron 211, Ejército del Aire, 1952 Skin Credit: File404

Avia S-92 Turbina - Escuadron 211, Ejército del Aire, 1952

Junkers Ju-87T 'Fischadler' - Marineflieger 2, Kreigsmarine, 1942

Great work on an often neglected Cold War warrior. Just an observation... Reverse=TRUE on the starboard fin flashes please!!

Messerschmitt Bf-109T 'Seeadler' - Marineflieger 1, Kriegsmarine, 1942 Skin Credit: Charles

Messerschmitt Bf-109T - Marineflieger 1, 1942

Lockheed F-104C Starfighter - 'Getti Tonanti', 5th Aerobrigata, Aeronautica Militare, 1960

Junkers Ju-87T 'Fischadler' - Admiral Gustav Bachmann, Kriegsmarine, 1943

CASA 4100 'Espada' - Escuadron 23, Ejército del Aire, 1946 Despite being one of the fastest fighter aircraft in the world at the time of its development the promising Heinkel He 100 was not ordered into series production due to the German Ministry of Aviation's policy that allocated fighter development to Messerschmitt and bomber development to Heinkel with the additional reason that the production problems with the Daimler-Benz DB 601 12-cylinder liquid-cooled piston engine were so acute that all other designs based on the DB 601 engine were cancelled or suspended. Whilst Heinkel did consider switching to the Junkers Jumo 211 that engine was also in short supply and the He 100 could not easily be adapted to accept the Jumo 211 except via an extensive redesign but still with inferior performance. This was frustrating for Heinkel as they knew that the He 100 was a fine fighter aircraft that had already attracted interest from other countries. Indeed, Japanese and Soviet delegations had visited the Marienehe factory in October 1939 followed by a Spanish delegation in December 1939. All three were impressed by the design but whilst Heinkel was allowed to look for foreign licensees for the He 100 the engine supply problem still persisted. Even though Spain had a considerable air force the aircraft operated by the Ejército del Aire were mainly survivors from the Spanish Civil War with most aircraft being either worn out or obsolete. Despite this, Spain's declared neutrality and desperate economic situation meant that they could wait a while longer and properly organise obtaining licences and establish a production line for both the He 100 airframe and the DB 601 engine. CASA were a natural choice to manufacture the He 100 as they had already obtained aircraft licenses from Germany for the Bücker Bü 133 Jungmeister, Gotha Go 145, Ju-52 and He-111. Franco authorised an extension of the CASA factory in Tablada in Seville specifically for the construction of the He 100 which was soon given the in-house designation of CASA 4100 and officially named 'Espada' (Sword). Acquiring the DB 601 engine proved to be slightly more difficult but eventually Franco negotiated with Mussolini to source it's DB 601 engine from Italy as Alfa Romeo had already gained a production licence from Daimler-Benz for the DB 601 engine (as the R.A.1000 R.C.41-I Monsone) and were already tooling up for production with engines destined for the Macchi C.202 Folgore and Reggiane Re.2001 Falco II fighters. Construction of the Tablada factory extension and the CASA 4100 production line took up the majority of 1940 and 1941 but CASA eventually delivered it's first CASA 4100 aircraft to the Ejército del Aire in March 1942 with the aircraft entering service with Escuadron 23 in the early summer. Production was a long drawn out affair with the last of 227 aircraft coming off the production line in May 1951 and the CASA 4100 remained in service until late 1964. Skin Credit: Charles

Spanish Mule

Iberian Dogfight

Butcher Birds At Twilight

Hispano Aviación HA-1108 Martillo - Escuadron 113, Ala 7, Ejército del Aire, May 1945 Whilst both Portugal and Spain remained neutral at the start of World War 2 the UK government was deeply concerned that the pro-Nazi Spanish dictatorship of Francisco Franco would inevitably lead to Spain joining the axis powers in their war against the British Empire. In particular, the UK worried that an emboldened Spain would make a move to take back Gibraltar which played a vital role in controlling naval traffic in and out of the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. These fears appeared to becoming true when Franco and Hitler met at Hendaye railway station near the Spanish–French border on October 23rd, 1940. The UK knew that the object of the meeting was to resolve disagreements over the conditions for Spain to join the Axis Powers in their war against the British Empire. Among other things, Franco asked for the handing over of Gibraltar once the British were defeated plus the return of French Morocco, part of French Algeria and further demanded that French Cameroon should be attached to the Spanish colony of Guinea. Hitler knew that Spain was enduring a critical economic and military situation following the Spanish Civil War and realised that Spain could contribute little to acheiving Franco's extortionate wish list. Hitler regarded Franco with contempt and preferring not to disturb his relations with the Vichy French regime he abruptly ended the meeting and the two would never meet again. Following this infamous meeting Franco realised that Spain might struggle to receive arms from Nazi Germany and announced a series of military programmes including an indigenous fighter aircraft for the Spanish Air Force. Hispano Aviación were given a contract to design and produce a modern monoplane fighter utilising the promising 'in house' Hispano-Suiza R14 fourteen-cylinder two-row supercharged radial engine rated at 1,400hp driving a 3-bladed constant-speed propeller. Designated as the HA-1108 'Martillo' (Hammer) the HA-1108 was a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a retractable undercarriage and an enclosed cockpit. The relatively clean duralumin-skinned fuselage had a tubular steel frame whilst the predominantly fabric-covered wing (with duralumin leading edges) was supported by two steel spars giving considerable strength and stiffness and the flight control surfaces were also fabric covered. The upper forward fuselage was the location for the four ALFA 44 machine guns of 7.92mm calibre with Nelson E-8 synchronization gear allowing them to fire them through the spinning propeller. The first HA-1108 prototype flew on December 20th, 1941 and Hispano Aviación test pilots found it reasonably docile with decent flight and ground handling properties and good cockpit ergonomics. However, it was slower than contemporary fighters like the Me-109F and Spitfire V and the armament of four rifle calibre machine guns was considered to be woefully inadequate. Despite these shortcomings the HA-1108 started series production in August 1942 with Escuadron 113 becoming the first operational squadron on October 12th, 1942 (the national Day of Spain). On May 9th, 1945 the HA-1108's of Escuadron 113 saw combat over Olivenza near the Portuguese border with Spain shooting down a Portuguese Furacão and damaging a Spitfire on the following day. Production continued during the war and finally ended in 1948. Whilst outdated the HA-1108 was adequate for it's intended purpose of home defence and also controlling Spanish colonial territories in Africa. Veltro2K's VL Myrsky II in a tussle with Raven's Hercules Hurricane!